Congress and the president have adopted many critically important policies in great haste during brief periods of perceived national emergency. During the first “hundred days” of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration in the spring of 1933, for example, the government abandoned the gold standard, enacted a system of wide-ranging controls, taxes, and subsidies in agriculture, and set in motion a plan to cartelize the nation’s manufacturing industries. In 2001, the...
Read More »Making Sense Eurodollar University Episode 66
In 2014 the St. Louis Federal Reserve noted that despite a MASSIVE increase in money the expected 4 to 6% inflation did not materialize. The researchers suggest it was a "liquidity trap". Yes, and no. But mostly no. Jeff Snider, Head of Global Investment Research for Alhambra Investments with Emil Kalinowski. Topics & Time Codes 00:05 In the pre-2007 period an increase in money supply lead to an increase inflation but... 02:59 ...the post-2007 period displayed a break in the...
Read More »The Biggest Threat to US Hegemony: China, Russia, or Debt?
China and Russia are trying to build a Eurasion bloc that can break free of any American spheres of influence. The American regime obviously opposes this, but money printing and debt limits the American options. Original Article: “The Biggest Threat to US Hegemony: China, Russia, or Debt?” Now that the Biden administration has settled in, it is time to reassess American policy towards Russia, China and the wider Asian scene. Is it going to be a continuation of...
Read More »FX Daily, April 23: Greenback Slips into the Weekend
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.28% to 1.1044 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, April 23(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Many narratives link the prospect of higher capital gains tax on about a third of 1% of Americans as the catalyst for losses in US equities yesterday (and Bitcoin) and weakness in some global shares today. Of the large markets in the Asia Pacific region, only Japan, which is reimposing...
Read More »Ohio House Votes to Fix Blunder, Remove Sales Tax on Sound Money
The Ohio House of Representatives just approved a bill which helps Buckeye State citizens protect themselves from the loss of monetary purchasing power caused by federal money printing. Introduced by Representative Oeslager, House Bill 110 includes a provision to eliminate the sales and use tax on purchases of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bullion in Ohio. Ohio recently repealed a longstanding sales tax exemption on the sale of precious metals....
Read More »Covid: 80 percent of nation must be immunised to stop spread, says Swiss health minister
© Filmfoto | Dreamstime.com This week, Alain Berset, Switzerland’s health minister said that 80% of the population must be immunised for the virus to stop spreading, according to RTS. Vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus is voluntary in Switzerland. Currently, estimates suggest only 60% of Switzerland’s population is prepared to be vaccinated, according to Berset, a figure below the level required to get rid of the virus. If 60% had immunity the virus would still...
Read More »The Only Way to Get Ahead Now Is Crazy-Risky Speculation
It’s all so pathetic, isn’t it? The only way left to get ahead in America is to leverage up the riskiest gambles. It’s painfully obvious that the only way left to get ahead in America is crazy-risky speculation, but nobody seems to even notice this stark and stunning reality. Why are people piling into crazy-risky bets on speculative vehicles like Gamestop and Dogecoin? The obvious answer is because others have reaped a decade or two of wages in a few weeks, and...
Read More »Not Even Gretchen Whitmer Wants More of the CDC’s Lockdowns
The US state with the fastest growing covid-19 caseload is a state that has experienced some of the harshest and longest lockdowns and covid restrictions: Michigan. As of April 20, the seven-day moving average for new covid cases in Michigan was 790 per million. This is higher than any other US state, and it is several times higher than the case rate for Michigan a year ago. It is comparable to what it was at the beginning of cold and flu seasons last fall, when...
Read More »Swiss Trade Balance Q1 2021: exports go back above their pre-Covid-19 level
We do not like Purchasing Power or Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) as measurement for currencies. For us, the trade balance decides if a currency is overvalued. Only the trade balance can express productivity gains, while the REER assumes constant productivity in comparison to trade partners. Who has read Michael Pettis, knows that a rising trade surplus may also be caused by a higher savings rate while the trade partners decided to spend more. This is partially...
Read More »The great Mars debate
Is human exploration of Mars worth the cost and the risk? Will we ever see the first man or woman on the surface of the Red Planet? Following the launch of recent Mars missions with Swiss and international involvement, including the landing of the Perseverance rover, SWI swissinfo.ch put those questions to Sylvia Ekström of the University of Geneva and Pierre Brisson of the Swiss Mars Society in an online debate, hosted via Zoom. These are highlights from the debate, in which...
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